Seismic performance of stainless steel end-plate beam-to-column joints

In order to study the seismic performance of stainless steel end-plate beam-to-column joints, six full scale end-plate beam-to-column joint specimens were designed and fabricated, including five stainless steel joints and one carbon steel joint in grade Q345B. Quasi-static loading tests on the six joint specimens were carried out, and the failure modes, hysteresis curves and structural properties were obtained. By means of the finite element (FE) software package ABAQUS, the cyclic loading process of the tested joint specimens was accurately simulated, and the seismic performance of the joint specimens was further explored. It is revealed that the energy dissipation capacities of the two stainless steel beam-to-interior column joints in different material grades are close to each other, which are better than that of the carbon steel counterpart. The hysteresis curves of beam-to-interior column joints are more stable than those of the exterior ones, though the beam-to-interior column joints display relatively lower resistances. Moreover, the presence of end-plate stiffeners contributes significantly to the seismic performance of joints, and the resistances increase by around 30% and the energy dissipation capacities are doubled. The numerically obtained values of the joint rotations satisfy the ductility demands specified in the current seismic design standards, indicating favorable seismic performance of the tested joints. © 2021, Editorial Office of Journal of Building Structures. All right reserved.